


Vengeance and Retribution

by Avirra



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Episode s06e07 Middle Man, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-03-04
Packaged: 2018-01-14 14:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1269511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avirra/pseuds/Avirra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A closed case comes back to haunt the BAU team when one of their own is taken to exact a twisted form of payback.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_"Vengeance, deep-brooding o'ver the slain, had locked the source of softer woe,_  
 _And burning pride and high disdain forbade the rising tear to flow."_ ~Sir Walter Scott

Morgan was looking over a folder as he headed back to his desk. Seeing Reid packing up his messenger bag, Morgan frowned slightly. Had he lost track of time that badly while reviewing the case J.J. had asked him to do a phone consult on? A glance at his watch told him no, it was still two hours before the end of the work day. Assuming no new case reared its head at the last minute, of course.

"I never envisioned you as the type to cut class, Reid."

Lifting his head up, Reid met his eyes with a puzzled look.

"Cutting class?"

Then the puzzlement faded and he smiled as he adjusted the strap on his bag after settling it on his shoulder.

"Oh, you're talking about my leaving now? I'm not going home, Derek. A deputy from one of our old cases said he had some new information that we might want to add to our records. Since he was traveling into the area for a funeral, his sheriff asked him to deliver the file. He called because doesn't have his own transportation here and I was asked to meet him to pick it up. I should be back before we shut down if traffic cooperates. In fact, I shouldn't even be gone an hour."

"Good. Maybe we can grab a bite together after work."

"Thai?"

"Sounds good to me."

As Reid left, Morgan returned to the case file he was reviewing as he reached for the phone to call the LEO that had requested assistance. He didn't think anything else of Reid's trip until Hotch finally emerged from the meeting he'd been in most of the day. Morgan glanced to his watch and saw that this time, it really was nearly time to leave. Reid should have been back already, but traffic was never predictable.

Hotch walked over to Reid's desk, not actually looking up until he reached it. He seemed surprised to find that Reid wasn't there and Morgan felt his first twinge of concern. His eyes quickly took in the clean desk and the absence of the messenger bag, then he looked over to Morgan.

"Did Reid leave already?"

"No, but he hasn't gotten back from his meeting yet. He was expecting to be back about forty-five minutes ago, but you know traffic around here."

"Meeting? What meeting?"

"He told me he was meeting one of the LEOs from a past case to pick up some new information to add to our files. You didn't know about it?"

"No, I didn't. And it isn't like Reid to take something like that on without clearing it. Did Reid say if someone had asked him to meet with the LEO?"

"That would be me. Is there a problem?"

Strauss had entered the bullpen in time to catch the last part of the conversation.

"Other than my not being informed of one of my agents being sent out, the only other matter of concern is that Doctor Reid hasn't returned yet."

The only real indication of Hotch's disapproval came through on his use of Reid's title. Strauss knew him well enough to know that, but dismissed it as it being due to her sending out one of 'his' agents without clearing it with him first. She decided that it would be a good time to remind him that 'his' agents were also 'her' agents.

"Your team isn't currently on an active case and you were in a meeting when it came up. As Doctor Reid was both requested and available, I told him to go ahead - we need to maintain good relations with our area's local police."

"Do you remember the details of where they were going to meet?"

"No, after I asked Doctor Reid to handle it, I transferred the call over to him so that he could take down the details. He's probably just been held up in traffic."

Apparently of the opinion that no more needed to be said on the matter, Strauss headed back to her office, not noticing that she was leaving Hotch and Morgan behind sporting near matching frowns.

"She said they requested Reid?"

"That's what I heard, Hotch. But that doesn't bother me as much as her saying it was someone local that requested Reid. When Reid was getting ready to go, he said the deputy he was meeting had come to our area for a funeral, so he been given the file to turn over to us. He didn't come himself because he didn't have a way to get here. That doesn't sound like a local to me."

"You're right. It doesn't to me either."

Not saying another word, Hotch pulled his phone out and called Reid's number, frown deepening as it went straight to voice mail.

"Garcia!"

Head popping up from the screen she'd been studying, Garcia looked over to Hotch, growing immediately serious at the expression on his face.

"What's wrong, boss?"

"Hopefully nothing. Run a GPS check on Reid's phone."

"I will have that for you in three shakes of a lamb's tail . . . Hotch?"

The tone her voice took had both Hotch and Morgan moving toward her.

"What is it, Garcia?"

"According to this, Reid is at your home, sir."

"What?"

That exclamation came from Morgan - Hotch was already dialing his home phone.

"Jessica? Is anyone there with you and Jack?"

"Just one of Jack's friends. They're playing in his room. Oh, a package was dropped off for you around an hour ago."

"How big of a package? Who delivered it?"

"About the size of a standard shoe box, but it's heavy. It was someone from law enforcement. He wasn't local though. The uniform was wrong."

"Don't touch it or allow anyone else to touch it. I'll be there with a team as soon as possible. While we're on our way, jot down anything you can remember about the man and anything you might have seen about what kind of vehicle he arrived in."

"I will. It's - you don't think it's anything dangerous, do you?"

"No, but until we get a look at it, be careful around it."

Ending the call, Hotch call out.

"Rossi, J.J.! We're heading out to a possible scene - five minutes."

Rossi stuck his head out of his door.

"Possible scene? Where?"

"My home."

J.J. noticed that neither Morgan or Garcia were questioning the location. Rossi, on the other hand, noted Reid's absence. Both took a look at Hotch and decided to hold off their questions until they were in the SUV. Once they were pulled out and on the road, Hotch began speaking.

"Reid was sent out by Strauss to pick up a file on a past case from a LEO that had requested him by name. He still hasn't returned. He didn't pick up when I called his phone and when Garcia traced it, it shows as being at my home. Jessica says a package was dropped off for me by someone dressed in uniform, but not one that the local police wear. I've already asked her to write down anything she can remember about him and told her not to touch the package again."

Rossi scowled as he listened.

"So, current thoughts are that either the meeting was likely a setup to get Reid off to himself or someone saw him off to himself and took advantage of the situation?"

Morgan shifted in his seat impatiently.

"I'm more inclined to think it was a set-up. Why else would someone ask specifically for Reid?"

Rossi shrugged off that question.

"Could be any number of reasons. Reid often is in the stations and departments more than the rest of us while he's working up geographic profiles or researching on the computer. He may also have been regarded as more approachable."

A faint smile formed on J.J.'s face.

"You mean less scary than the rest of you guys."

A smirk accompanied Rossi's answer.

"Isn't that what I just said? And there are also a number of reasons they wouldn't have requested a woman, the simplest one being that they didn't want it to sound like a bad pickup line."

It still bothered Morgan enough to press on.

"But why request someone specific at all?"

"Could've been to make sure it didn't forgotten because everyone else thought someone else was going to do it. Hey look - I'm not saying it doesn't sound fishy to me as well. It does. But we need to keep an open mind or we might overlook something and go the wrong direction. One thing we don't want to do if something has happened is to have to waste time by backtracking."

Any further discussion was tabled as they arrived at Hotch's home. Jessica was as far away from the mystery package as she could manage without leaving. Jack had expressed curiosity but stayed away when told to. That hadn't stopped him from staring at it though. He sulked a bit when his father instructed him to go to his room, but Hotch was firm. There were a number of things that might be in that box that he didn't want his son seeing.

Rossi was examining the box itself. It was wrapped in brown paper and had a string tied around it. The more he looked at it, the more he frowned. J.J. stepped close enough to get a look at it herself to see if she could figure out what Rossi was seeing. Only one thing really struck her.

"That's an unusual knot, isn't it?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure I've seen it before, but not outside of a kitchen. Let's keep this knot intact. It isn't one most people would know and even fewer would use on a package. At least not if it's the type I'm thinking of."

Morgan put on a pair of gloves, then came over with his knife and carefully cut through the string on either side before dropping the knot into a protective bag. He gently sliced through the brown paper next, careful not to disturb any of the pieces of tape on the wrapping paper in case the tape might have any prints still intact on it. Jessica had been right. The box inside had once held a pair of men's shoes and there were no signs that it was anything but a box. No odd odors, greasy marks or stains that often accompanied a bomb.

At Hotch's nod, Morgan eased off the lid and looked inside.

"Damn it!"

Rossi leaned over to look and felt like letting out a string of curses himself. Packed inside was Reid's gun and holster, his FBI identification, his wallet, his wristwatch, his phone, his keys - even loose change. It looked like he'd been stripped of everything but the clothes on his back. Then Rossi noticed something at the bottom of the box, barely noticeable beneath all of Reid's things.

"Is that - hair?"


	2. Chapter 2

With their gloves on, the team carefully removed the items from the box one at a time, sealing them as evidence until they could be tested for fingerprints and foreign substances. As Rossi had noticed, there was hair at the very bottom of the box and it was the same color as Reid's. Little doubt that it was his, but they bagged it as well, mindful of Rossi's comment about backtracking taking far more time than doing everything carefully. Still, it was hard not to be impatient when they knew something had happened to Reid.

Rossi suggested there was really very little that they could do at Hotch's house and that getting the items back to be processed should be the priority. Hotch nodded, sending Rossi and Morgan back with the box and its contents. He and J.J. would stay with Jessica a bit longer to get the details from her that she could remember about the one that delivered the package. J.J. was currently on the phone putting out a BOLO for Reid's car as odds were that it was abandoned somewhere since they had the keys to it among the box contents.

Hotch sat at the dining room table across from Jessica, who was feeling horrible about not calling Hotch immediately. He understood how she was feeling, but tried to reassure her.

"You had no way of knowing anything. I'm glad you didn't suspect anything actually. If the man had noticed that you seemed on guard about any of this, he might not have left the box and that might well be what leads us to Reid. Now, what can you remember?"

She worried her lower lip slightly as she glanced down at her notes, then closed her eyes as if visualizing back to the knock at the door.

"He was the type that my dad would have called 'built like a bear'. Not fat, but stocky. Solid. A couple of inches shorter than you are, Aaron. Really short hair with a good bit of grey. Shorter even than a lot of military cuts I've seen. He had on metal framed sunglasses the entire time, so I never saw his eyes. He was wearing gloves and a jacket. He was very gruff in manner, never gave his nameand I couldn't see a nametag. He just seemed to want to shove the box and me and be gone as quickly as possible. Like he was on a deadline. There was someone that stayed with the van in the driver's seat. As soon as the man delivering the box got back into the passenger seat, they drove off. Heading that direction."

"A van?"

"Yes, an official one or at least it appeared to be. I could see the word sheriff painted on it and a five-pointed star. There was an arc on the star that went from the left-hand arm of the star to the right-hand arm - there were words on the arc, but I couldn't make them out from the doorway. There were some words on the back as well, but the only one I could read was caution."

"Could you tell anything about the driver?"

"No. Nothing. I couldn't even swear as to whether it was a man or a woman. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. Really. We've gotten a lot less solid information from witnesses that knew something wrong was going on. You did great, but we might need you to work with someone later to get a sketch of the man for an APB, but we need to head back now. There's a good chance I won't be back home until this is settled."

Jessica rubbed her forehead and then looked up as J.J. came back from the other room where she'd been making her call.

"I hope you find your man soon, Aaron. And safe."

"Thanks. Be careful and don't open the door to anyone you don't know personally until you hear back from me. If I send anyone, I'll call and alert you first."

* * *

As Morgan took the box, wrapping paper and contents to the lab to be checked for prints or other clues, Rossi made a beeline to Garcia with the bag holding the knot in hand. She wasted no time before starting to quiz him.

"Did you find Reid? Is he alright?"

"No, we didn't and we don't know. But I've got a hunch he might have left us a clue."

Garcia's eyes moved to the bag in Rossi's hand.

"String?"

"The concern is more the knot in that string, kitten. I need to find out the name for it."

"I will do my best. No pun intended when I say this is not my specialty."

"Do what you can. It reminds me of a cooking knot, so that might be a good place to start."

It seemed to take longer than it actually did, but the lab results came back with results fairly quickly. There were several clear fingerprints - unfortunately, all belonging to Reid. Morgan was fuming. When he'd found there were good prints, he'd had hope that they would be given a direction to go in.

"I don't believe this. They made him wrap up his own stuff to be delivered?"

"Looks that way."

"That's cold. Reminds me a little of that guy that made the women clean up their own blood."

"It definitely kept them from accidently leaving a fingerprint for us. If they really are law enforcement, their prints would be in the system and they'd know that."

Garcia stuck her head out of her office.

"You were right, Rossi. The knot is one that's used in the cooking world. It's apparently referred to as a corned beef knot."

"Corned beef? What the hell could Reid have been trying to tell us with that?"

"You really think Reid is the one that tied that knot?"

"Considering the only prints all over the package were his, I'd say it was a strong possibility. And why use a special knot unless he was trying to tell us something?"

"Wait – I remember . . . it was about four months ago. Reid was showing me this book he was reading. It had hundreds of knots in it. He was fascinated that there were so many different styles and uses. I wonder if it's still around here somewhere?"

Rossi's phone rang and he watched Garcia start rummaging around Reid's desk as he answered it.

"Rossi. Yes? Where? We're on our way."

Looking around as he ended the call, he waved when he spotted Morgan.

"They found Reid's car. Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

When they arrived on the scene, Rossi and Morgan found two LEOs awaiting them in front of a building that was in the process of being renovated. The older of the two stepped forward, offering his hand after they climbed out of their SUV.

"I'm Sergeant Hopton. The car is back over here."

As he led the way to Reid's car, both Rossi and Morgan were puzzled as to why the Sergeant seemed embarrassed, but then Rossi glanced over his shoulder and noticed that they were within literal sight of the police station. The only thing preventing Reid's car from being visible from the station's front door was a huge dumpster on the property that his car had been pulled behind.

"I doubt Reid parked there himself. At least not willingly. Morgan? Did you pick up his keys from the lab?"

"Got them right here."

They both took time to pull on gloves before moving any closer to the car. After the package, neither of them had much hope of fingerprints, but if someone other than Reid moved the car, it was possible they left some other type of trace evidence behind. The two LEOs stayed close by as Morgan moved first to the trunk, taking a deep breath before inserting the key and turning it. He eased the lid up, freezing for a second when he caught a glimpse of the sweater vest Reid had been wearing.

Opening it up the rest of the way, Morgan shook his head in frustration and looked over to Rossi.

"What the hell did they do to him?"

Reaching in, Rossi gently lifted up one of the articles of clothing - what had been Reid's shirt. The items hadn't just been removed, they'd been sliced from end to end as if they'd been cut from his body. That seemed to be confirmed further by the pants - both legs were sliced from cuff to waist. The only things that weren't cut were his tie, belt, shoes and socks. As Morgan thought back to when he'd seen Reid just before he'd left, he frowned while he gave a side glance to Rossi. It seemed that absolutely everything of Reid's that hadn't been in the box was inside the trunk. Including his messenger bag.

"How do you get a naked FBI agent out of the area without drawing way too much attention?"

The younger officer, a rookie named Franklin, gave an uneasy glance toward the dumpster.

"Maybe they didn't, sir. There's - well, there's a rotting odor at the far end of the dumpster and flies buzzing pretty thickly."

Rossi looked down at the cut up clothing before eyeing the industrial sized dumpster again.

"Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to if they were just going to immediately dump the body."

"Unless it was some sort of message they wanted to send to us?"

Rossi gave Morgan a small shrug.

"Not sure what kind of message that would be, but regardless, we need to find out what's making the odor that has the flies so attracted."

Part of Rossi discounted that Reid would be in there, but if he were being truthful with himself, he couldn't say how much of that was because the rest of the actions seemed too methodical to end in such a haphazard way and how much of it was because he didn't want to find their youngest team member dumped like trash.

Morgan and Franklin were the ones who ended up having to brave the dumpster. Once inside, Morgan's stomach turned for two reasons. One was the stench and the other was the fact that the stench was now unmistakably that of rotting flesh. The smell wasn't improved when Franklin lost his lunch after he got his first deep breath of the putrid aroma. Morgan barely kept his own gag reflex under control after that.

On the positive side, Morgan knew that the smell couldn't be coming from Reid's body. Even if he'd been killed the second he'd left Morgan's sight, his body wouldn't be at that stage of decomposition. That was borne out when he shifted the trash enough to get a look at what was behind the odor. The decay wasn't even from human remains - it was a very dead cat. That verified, Morgan and Franklin didn't waste any time climbing back out of the dumpster.

"Dead cat. I didn't see anything else in there that looked like it might have related to Reid's disappearance either."

Rossi still had a piece of what was left of Reid's shirt in his hand.

"I've called a tow truck to get Reid's car back for the lab to go over it. I don't think there's much more we can do here. Sergeant Hopton, Officer Franklin? Thank you for your assistance."

The Sergeant reached out to take the offered hand.

"I'm glad Franklin here spotted the car. Sorry we didn't find your man though."

"Considering what shape he would have probably have been in if he had been here, not finding him with the car was probably for the best."

"Probably so. Good luck and I hope you find him soon. We'll stay with the car until your tow truck comes."

"Thanks, we appreciate that."

Before they got back inside the SUV, Rossi went back to the car and retrieved Reid's messenger bag. Morgan gave him a questioning look and Rossi just shrugged.

"Garcia was looking for a book in Reid's desk. If it wasn't there, this is most likely where it would be."

Nodding agreement to that, Morgan climbed behind the wheel and headed them back to the BAU offices.

"Okay, we've got the knot Reid left us. Corned beef. What do you think that could mean, Rossi?"

"Hmm. Corned beef is associated with St. Patrick's Day. Cabbage. Irish."

"Alright, if he was leaving us a clue, he recognized who he was with and knew that we would as well. I can't think of any case we've had lately that any of that would apply to."

"Unfortunately, neither can I. Let's hope one of the others have come up with something. They've already got a larger head start on us than I care for."

When they arrived back at the offices, Hotch was in with Strauss. J.J. and Garcia immediately looked up and froze when they saw Reid's messenger bag in Rossi's hands. He held it out for Garcia.

"We're having his car taken to the lab to look for any evidence. We found this and Reid's clothes, but no Reid. Maybe that book you were looking for is in here."

Garcia hesitated slightly as she moved to take the messenger bag.

"He hates people going through his bag."

Laying an understand on Garcia's shoulder, Rossi gave her a small squeeze.

"I think he'll understand. I'm sure he wants to be back with us as much as we want him here."


	4. Chapter 4

It was fast approaching midnight, but no-one was even considering going home. Hotch did, however, insist that they all take a break and they went out as a team to an all night diner to get something to eat.

Garcia had found the book she remembered Reid carrying around - 'The Ashley Book of Knots' - and brought it with her, looking over it after they placed their orders.

"My God, no wonder he was going on about this. There are over three thousand knots in this thing."

Leaning over slightly, Morgan took a look at some of the illustrations.

"Why are you reading the book itself, Baby Girl?"

"What if the knot was to lead us to the book instead of to the type of knot it was? Reid would know I'd remember the book eventually. It might be a long shot, but I have to be doing something."

Rossi reached over and gave her a light pat on her arm.

"That's a good idea actually, but let's think back over the one he used. Anything come to mind to anyone with Corned Beef?"

Hotch frowned thoughtfully.

"I'll admit it that the first person that sprang to mind was Doyle. Perhaps one of his old associates?"

Morgan picked up his coffee cup as he shook his head.

"I don't suppose we can rule that out, but this doesn't feel like their style to me."

Giving the book in Garcia's hand a thoughtful look, J.J. spoke up.

"Pen? Does that book give any history or trivia about the knots? Maybe you could tell us more about the knot and it might ring a bell."

Bobbing her head in agreement, Garcia flipped to the back of the book and ran her finger down the index to see what page to go to and then paused.

"Guys? That knot has more than one name. It's also called a Salt Pork knot. It's designed so that you can keep tightening it during the cooking process as the meat shrinks."

They all fell silent again as their food was delivered, then Rossi spoke again.

"Corned in cooking terms means that something was marinated in a brine solution."

Morgan took a bite of his sandwich as he thought.

"What if we're looking for only one part of the words as a connection? Like corned, beef, salt or pork?"

Rossi nodded thoughtfully as he looked at the surface of his coffee.

"Corned and salt are pretty much one and the same."

Garcia chimed in again.

"Reid's brain works on another level, but we aren't slouches either. We can figure this . . ."

Everyone stopped and looked toward Garcia as something obviously clicked for her.

"I need to get back to my computer. I don't want to say anything because I could be totally, totally wrong and if I am, I might distract you guys from another possibility."

With a frantic wave, she signaled their waitress.

"Excuse me? Could I get my meal packed to go and a takeout cup for my coffee? It's really urgent - thank you so much."

As she bustled away from the table with renewed energy, Hotch looked back to the others.

"She's right. Let's continue brainstorming on this, but let's try another angle. Can anyone think of any LEOs that have been hostile, especially toward Reid?"

Not doing much more than picking at her food, J.J. shrugged.

"We run into a lot of them that aren't particularly happy to see us, but there's a big jump between not liking to cooperate with us and with kidnapping one of us. Wait. They called here, didn't they? Can we get the phone records? I know a lot of calls come into the building, but we know the approximate time of day that Strauss received the call, so that should narrow it down considerably."

"We'll turn that over to Garcia when we get back. For the moment, I don't want to distract her from whatever lead she may be on."

"So? We're going with the thought that an actual officer is involved, Hotch?"

"An officer is involved, either directly or indirectly. We aren't only talking about a man in a uniform, we're also talking about a van that also appeared to be an official vehicle."

"Well, we can eliminate any that aren't with a sheriff's department."

"That doesn't really eliminate all that many, Morgan. But you're right. It's a start."

They ate slowly. Hotch had the feeling that they were pretty much not even tasting their food. He knew that he was only going through the motions himself, He knew he needed food to keep going, so he was eating, but he might as well have been eating cardboard for all the enjoyment he was getting out of it. Only the coffee seemed to have flavor and he got another refill of that as the waitress checked to see if there was anything they needed.

They were all quietly thinking over what to try next when Morgan's phone rang. Seeing it was Garcia, he quickly answered.

"Talk to me, Baby Girl. Tell me you found something good."

"I found something alright, but it isn't good. I hope you've all finished eating because I need you back here asap. I'll have everything in the conference room ready to show you guys when you get here."

"We're on our way."

Just from hearing the one-side of the conversation, Rossi was already moving to the register to pay for their meals while the others were heading for the door.

"Garcia's hunch must have been right. She's setting up the conference room to fill us in."

"Let's not keep the lady waiting."

Genuinely hopeful for the first time in hours, they headed back to their offices to see what Garcia had to tell them.


	5. Chapter 5

The team wasted no time getting back and converging on the conference room. Garcia looked upset, but steady.

"I believe I have ferreted out the meaning of the clue Reid managed to sneak to us under the nose of our unsub. Who may not be so unknown any longer."

Garcia brought up an image on the screen.

"A cornfield?"

"Quite correct, but not just any cornfield. This is the view of the field where a young exotic dancer was found murdered."

"The case with the pack of three men in Indiana, right?"

"Also quite correct. The reason for our concern is this member of that trio."

The image of a young blond man in his twenties came up. The recognition hit them all but Morgan spoke first.

"That's that cop's kid. The one we called the lieutenant of the pack. But isn't he in prison?"

" **Was** in prison, my doves. Was. From the records I was able to get from the Indiana prison system, word got out that young Christopher was the son of a sheriff – and a sheriff not thought well of by the local prison population. He was beaten badly, slipped into a coma and finally died from his injuries just a month ago."

The image on the screen shifted again to a van.

"Courtesy of a blog – who knew police vehicles had fan sites? Notice the similarities between this and the one described by Miss Brooks? The caution on the back door that she spotted is due to this being a prisoner transport van."

The image shifted a final time and on seeing the man's face again, Hotch remembered confronting the man on having wiped past criminal charges off of his son's records as well as suspecting he'd had an abusive relationship with his wife and son. He also noted that Jessica's description of the man that handed her the package matched the photograph.

"Sheriff Jeff Salters. I made a call to his office. The sheriff and one of his deputies are currently away from the area, transporting a prisoner back to Indiana from the DC area. Checking with the local authorities that the prisoner was purportedly going to be picked up from? That revealed that the locals had no clue what I was talking about - there was not prisoner to be transfer to Indiana or anywhere else for that matter. However they did remember hearing through the department grapevine that an Indiana sheriff and his deputy did come by earlier in the day."

Garcia's eyes moved back to the notes on her own tablet.

"They didn't remember specifics about the sheriff's story, just that it seemed a bit peculiar. The part that connects our tale is that the sheriff requested to make use of their telephone. The station kindly pulled up their daily records for me. Two calls were made from their phones in the approximate time frame that Strauss received the initial meeting request. One call was indeed to our hallowed institution and another placed to Indiana. Sheriff Salters' office."

They were all quiet as they digested the information. Rossi was the first to break the silence.

"Considering that Salters had wiped his son's past crimes from the records, anyone here have many doubts that, if we hadn't been present, Chris's involvement with those rapes and murders would have been swept under the rug as well?"

Hotch didn't hesitate long before shaking his head.

"He was strongly of the opinion that the crimes were as much the fault of the victims because of what they were doing for a living. I doubt he believed his son should go to prison over them."

Morgan looked hard at the picture still on the screen.

"Okay – I get it that his son's death in prison could well have been the stressor that pushed him over the edge. But why Reid? No offense, but you were the one he butted heads with, Hotch."

Looking down at her tablet, J.J. pulled Chris's image back up.

"Maybe it's because Reid and Chris look around the same age?"

"That's a possibility. We took from him, he takes something similar from us. Or, if that's the way his mind is working, from me. That might be why he dropped the package at my house. Garcia, you remembered Salters well enough to connect him with the salt clue?"

At that question, Garcia flushed a bit.

"It makes sense looking back and, of course, I'm sure Reid wasn't given much chance to think of anything, but no. What hit me at the restaurant is remembering our darling genius has certain habits. One of them being his preference for paper files. He was being sent to gather new information to add to our files."

J.J.'s face brightened in understanding.

"He pulled the hard copy out of the file cabinet and had it in his desk, ready to update it when he got back, didn't he?"

"That he did - and I feel like such an idiot for not thinking of that sooner. I mean, I went through his desk looking for the book on knots and didn't pay attention to the file other than to look under it for the book. It was when we were in the diner and I was talking about the way that our dear genius' brain works that I remembered seeing that file in his desk. I hurried back and when I pulled it out and saw the name of the sheriff, that set off all the alarms I needed to start sending out questions. When I got the information about the death of Christopher Salters was when I called you guys to come back."

Hotch rose, eyes hard.

"We might not know what Salters' plans are for Reid, but we know he's most likely headed for home. Garcia - see if GPS devices are installed in that county's police vehicles and, if so, track that van for us. Wheels are up as soon as we can get to the plane. Try to grab a nap while we're in the air, because we'll need to hit the ground running when we arrive."


	6. Chapter 6

Leaning his aching head back against the inside wall of the prisoner transport van, Reid tried to piece together what was to him happening and why.

The day had begun as a quiet one. Hotch was in a meeting and the rest of them were catching up on paperwork, doing phone consultations and cleaning up old files. Strauss had caught him on his way back from hauling some old records to archives, telling him that she wanted him to meet with an LEO in order to pick up some follow-up information on one of their past cases. He'd headed straight back to his desk to speak with the man and arrange where they would meet.

Since the deputy had told him that he was in town for a funeral, it struck Reid as a little odd to be asked to meet him at a cemetery, but not that strange. Once they'd finished talking, Reid cleared the other files off of his desk that he'd been working with and returned them to their cabinets before pulling out the case on the trio that had formed a lethal pack in Indiana. As he moved back to his desk, Reid flipped over the pages to see exactly what information was in their official files before sliding the folder into his drawer. He briefly considered taking it with him but decided that what unnecessary. They weren't asking for information themselves, after all - just sharing some extra information with the BAU team.

After a few quick words with Derek and an agreement to grab some Thai food after work, Reid headed out for the meeting. It was only about a fifteen minute drive - traffic willing. When he pulled up, he noticed the first peculiar thing. Deputy Kemp was waiting for him, standing beside a van from the Sheriff's Department in Indiana. He thought Strauss had said that the man hadn't had a way to drive over to the BAU offices, but perhaps she'd meant that he didn't have the time to.

Getting out of his car, Reid walked over and greeted Kemp. After they shook hands, Kemp led the way to the back of the van, explaining that since the information contained confidential information, he'd locked it up in the back while he had attended the funeral. All of that made sense to him. Or at least it had until the door was opened and he found himself facing a gun held by Sheriff Salters.

It stunned Reid at the time and part of him was still stunned. First, Reid had been ordered to drop his messenger bag, then empty everything out of his pockets into a plastic bucket, followed by his watch and his holstered gun. After he'd done that, Reid was ordered to remove his socks and shoes. Then Kemp had handcuffed Reid's hands behind him before pushing Reid further into the van and leaving him alone with Salters.

The abusive streak that Hotch had profiled came out in full then as Salters began to hit Reid with almost mindless blows - like Reid was nothing but a punching bag to him. All the while he was muttering, but never loudly or clearly enough for Reid to actually understand anything Salters was saying. Then his legs gave way and Reid fell to the floor of the van. Looking up, he watched with a detached horror as Salters pulled out a long, thin blade. The thought ran through his mind that he was going to die here and he had absolutely no idea why.

It soon became apparent that Salters wasn't going to stab him. At least not immediately. Salters roughly removed Reid's tie and belt, tossing them to the side before starting to slice his clothes off of him. It didn't take long before the only thing he was wearing were the handcuffs, but Salters wasn't done yet.

Hissing from the pain that shot through his ribs as Salters pulled him into a kneeling position, Reid had barely caught his breath again before one of Salters' hands clamped down on the back of his neck. There was the click of a switch and a buzzing noise that was followed by the sight of his hair falling down past his face and onto the van's floor. Once the sheriff finished trimming Reid's hair to an overall length of a half-inch, he turned off the battery powered clippers and exited the van.

Reid hadn't moved from the kneeling position when Kemp came back in a minute later carrying an orange jumpsuit. He tossed it on the metal bench before un-cuffing Reid's hands. He pulled his gun out and used it to gesture toward the jumpsuit.

"You can put that on or ride with a bare butt on the metal seats all the way to Indiana."

It wasn't much of a choice, so Reid put it on. He was getting stiff and moving the wrong way hurt, so it took him awhile to finish. Salters came back in while Kemp fitted a transport belt around Reid's waist, re-cuffing his hands in front of him and tethering the cuffs to the belt. Kemp then forced Reid to sit down on the bench and drew a lap belt across him, fastened it snugly to keep him there.

Reid's clothing was removed from the van before the door was firmly shut. It wasn't long before they were moving, not that Reid had any way of telling where, but the van pulled over and stopped in what seemed to be a very short time later. The door opened and Kemp came back in again. It was quickly becoming obvious that any talking to him was going to be done by Kemp and not Salters.

Undoing the lap belt, Kemp hauled Reed over to a grill-covered window.

"Take a good look."

With a sinking feeling, Reid looked out and saw where Hotch and Jack lived.

"I'm going to release you in a minute and you're going to fix up a little package for us. You try anything and the sheriff may have to go take Hotchner's little boy instead of you and it wouldn't go well for anyone in there with that boy. You understand?"

Swallowing, Reid nodded. He wouldn't do anything to endanger any child, let alone Hotch's son who had already been through so much in his short life. Kneeling on the floor again, he scooped up the hair and placed it into the box he was give. Then he emptied the contents of the plastic bucket into it before closing up the box, wrapping the paper around it with a little tape to hold it into place before finishing it off with twine. The twine was the only chance he had to possibly send at least a little clue to his team. It wasn't a great clue, but it wasn't as if he had unlimited options to work with.

Not knowing where Salters was in relation to where Hotch's son was at, Reid didn't resist being re-cuffed and put back on the bench. They remained parked for what seemed like a very long time, but finally he felt the van start moving again. Reid could only hope that no harm had come to Hotch's remaining family as his thoughts returned to his own predicament. Indiana. Why were they taking him to Indiana?


	7. Chapter 7

Leaving Garcia behind to try and track the van, the rest of the team headed for the jet which was fueled and ready to take off for Indianapolis - the nearest airport to Johnson County that could accommodate their jet. The flight would only take an hour, but the jet had never seemed so slow to Hotch. This felt disturbingly close to the case in Georgia. As it had been then, they knew who had Reid now but the problem was reaching them. The two lawmen would eventually end up in Indiana, but would they take Reid all the way there or dump him somewhere along the way?

Recognizing the signs of impatience in their leader, Rossi jumped into starting a discussion as soon as they'd taken off.

"If Salters was just going to kill Reid, he would have done it outright. Why go to all the trouble otherwise? He must have something else in mind."

A slow nod of agreement came from J.J.

"Salters made it very difficult, if not impossible for Reid to get away from him. He literally stripped Reid of anything that he could use to identify himself and if even if he did somehow manage to escape from the van, Salters could very easily get local police to help him round up an 'escaped convict'. Reid could tell the officers who he was and they'd never believe him."

A wry expression crossed Morgan's face briefly.

"There's enough that don't believe that Reid's with the FBI when he does have his badge. So, we know from our last time there that Salters is a bit of a control freak."

"That's putting it mildly."

Rossi looked over to Hotch after his comment.

"Aaron, would you elaborate on that for the benefit of the rest of us that didn't have to deal with him as much as you did?"

Hotch's eyes narrowed slightly as he mentally went back to that case.

"My first encounter with Sheriff Salters was when he was dressing down one of his men for talking to the press. He repeatedly used the words 'my'. My department, my investigation, my team, my man, my call, my jurisdiction, my show, my case. Our first disagreement was when I didn't want him in the room with me when I spoke to the latest victim's father. I didn't want to subject the man to Salters attitude that the women has all been asking for what had been done to them."

Morgan leaned forward slightly.

"I know there was at least one session in his office where his voice was raised. What happened then?

"That was after Garcia discovered the sealed record on his son, Christopher. A sealed record that had been wiped clean. When I suggested that he bullied his family like he bullied his staff, he said he ran a tight ship. When I asked when his wife got tired of it and left him, he called me a son of a bitch. When I asked how many times he'd hit his son, he asked how dare I accuse him. When I asked if Chris had started hitting back, he told me not to tell him how to raise his son."

J.J. sank back in her chair, shaking her head.

"It sounds like he was more angry that you were questioning what he did than he was about what you were accusing him of. I think I'm just as glad that I've never met him before."

"He's definitely a piece of work. With what we know of his anger management issues, I think we have to assume that Reid has probably been subjected to his temper at least once."

"So what you're saying, Rossi, is that he's probably beaten the crap out of Reid."

"I'd be more surprised if he hadn't, Morgan."

"That reminds me. Garcia's been busy with other details. I should check in with her and make sure we'll have vehicles waiting for us at the airport."

Hotch opened up his laptop and started the program to connect back to their offices. In just a couple of minutes, Garcia's face appeared on the screen.

"I should have news for all of you shortly. I've managed to gain access to the GPS tracker and now I'm working on isolating which one of the numerous vehicles in the data base is the one that we're after. If they are headed back home, they could already be there with the head start that they had."

"I know. Are there going to be SUVs waiting for us when we arrive?"

"If they aren't already there, fully gassed and ready, I will decimate someone's credit report, sir. I know time is . . . hold on. I think I've got it narrowed down. Yes and - wait. That can't be right."

Everyone stiffened just a bit and leaned a little closer to the screen.

"What's not right, Garcia?"

"I'm sure I've got the right van, but I'm not showing it as being anywhere near Jackson County. I'm showing it stopped in a city near the Illinois/Indiana border about an hour's drive from Chicago."

Morgan drew in a sharp breath.

"Baby Girl, please tell me we aren't talking Michigan City?"

"Sorry, but we are."

"Damn it!"

All eyes were now on Derek, but Hotch was the one that questioned him.

"Chicago's your home area. What is in that area?"

"A state prison. Dillinger was housed there back in the day. It's a maximum security facility."

Garcia's fingers were flying on her keyboard.

"Guys? It's also where Christopher Salters was incarcerated when he died."

"Garcia? We need to be rerouted immediately."

"On it. Your pilot should be getting his new flight plan taking you to the Chicago, Illinois/Gary, Indiana airport as soon as we can get approval pushed through for the change in destination. That should only take a few minutes. I have already sent the request for vehicles to be standing by there and canceled the ones at the Indianapolis Airport."

"Thanks, Garcia. Keep an eye on where that van goes from there. And contact the superintendent of the prison. We're going to need to meet with him immediately."

Rossi spoke up when Hotch finished.

"See if you can find anything on new prisoners. I doubt that if Reid's there that he's under his own name."

Garcia's face went paler as the implications all hit her at once, but she kept her voice fairly steady.

"Will do. And thank me by bringing him home."

"We will."


	8. Chapter 8

The van stopped periodically during the night, but never for very long. At one dark pull-off area, Reid was pulled outside long enough to make use of a tree - which he discovered was not the easiest thing to manage when handcuffed. After he was secured again on the bench, he was given a couple of sips of lukewarm water by Kemp while Salters kept guard. His body, already sore, began complaining about the lack of caffeine and food. Reid knew nothing would be gained by asking for either though, so he remained silent hoping to at least avoid another beating.

Despite the discomfort of his position in the back, Reid eventually dozed off from pure exhaustion, not rousing until the door to the back was opened again. As he was pulled out from the back again, his heart sank. He knew exactly where they were. He had been to this prison once before with Gideon to interview one of the serial killers housed here.

Shoving Reid between his shoulder blades to start him moving, Salters finally spoke to him.

"I wouldn't worry too much about adjusting to prison life if I were you. Hell, you aren't likely to live until lights out tonight. Then again, you might be pretty enough to last a day or two."

As he went through the steps of being processed, Reid had the detached sensation again. It was obvious that the prison staff around him were on intimate terms with Salters. Protesting that this was all wrong wouldn't help him at all and he knew it. He kept his composure until he found out the name that he was being processed under. When he heard that, he felt a bit ill.

Apparently, Reid had been Salters' 'plan B' and, much as he was not looking forward to being thrown in with the prison population, if he'd been given the option, Reid would have chosen to have been the one to come instead of allowing Salters to use his initial plans.

From hearing the few whispered conversations between Salters and the guards, he knew that it was going to be let out that he had a connection to law enforcement. Of course, Salters didn't know that was unnecessary. Reid was fairly sure that he'd be recognized eventually.

Once the initial workup was done, Salters went along with the guards as they escorted Reid to the exercise yard which was where the other prisoners in his cell block were currently located. The smirk on Salters face grew as he saw the looks being given to the young BAU agent by the groups of prisoners in the yard. All of them were doing lengthy sentences, mostly for violent crimes.

As he was released into the area, Reid saw Salters stop to have a few words with one of the guards stationed in the yard. As Salters left with his smirk still fully in place, the guard had a word with one of the prisoners and, from there, word seemed to be spreading like wildfire.

The stares and whispering followed him as Reid moved to a fairly empty area in the yard, rubbing his wrists. He couldn't help but cast a wistful look over the prison walls. He had faith that the team would find where he was sooner or later. He was really hoping for sooner.

His moment of quiet was interrupted by the approach of a large man. Very large. Large enough to make Derek look small in comparison. The man narrowed a pair of surprisingly light blue eyes at him before speaking gruffly.

"So - it true? You were with the Feds?"

Reid didn't honestly think that the truth would get him in any deeper trouble than lying would, so he stood his ground and looked the man in the eye.

"Yes. And not were. I still am."

"Really? Then what are you doing here?"

Reid's answer was both short and filled with as much contempt as one word could convey.

"Salters."

At that one word, the big man started laughing. He then latched onto Reid's shoulder without warning and drug him over to the guard that Salters had spoken to.

"This one? He goes in my cell. He's mine."

There were a few argumentative voices that rang out among the ones that heard the claim to the newcomer, but they were silenced very quickly when the large man turned and fixed his icy glare at them. For his part, the guard just shrugged.

"Why not? We've got to put him somewhere, so fine. He's in with you, Thorpe."

It didn't add to Reid's comfort level at all that Thorpe kept his hand firmly on his shoulder for the remainder of the time that they were out in the exercise yard. It seemed like half of the prisoners in the yard came over to Thorpe and hearing the variety of items being offered to the man in exchange for some 'time with the new guy' wasn't reassuring either. Reid was determined not to embarrass himself or his co-workers though, so he remained quiet and as stoic as possible. When their outside time was up, Thorpe gave Reid's shoulder a tight squeeze.

"Come on, pretty boy. Time for you and me to get better acquainted."

As the cell door clanged shut behind them, Reid wasn't sure that he'd ever be able to stand Derek calling him that again.

* * *

The team had touched down at the airport and were about to climb into their SUVs when Rossi's phone rang. A glance told him it was Garcia before he answered.

"Yes, Garcia, talk to us."

"Is Hotch with you? You aren't driving, are you?"

"Of course Hotch is with me. And no, I'm not driving."

"Hotch isn't driving either, is he?"

"What's all this about? None of us are driving at the moment."

"Good. Because I don't think you should let Hotch drive. He's going to be really upset."

"I don't really think Hotch could be much more upset than he already is."

Eyes narrowing, Hotch held his hand out for Rossi's phone. Rossi passed it over.

"Garcia, this is Hotch. Whatever it is, tell me now."

"I've accessed the prison database for new prisoners and I'm pretty sure I know which one of them is Reid."

"They processed him with his own name?"

"No. But one of the new inmates is named Jack Hotchner."

Rossi retrieved his phone when it looked like Hotch was about to smash it.

"Me again, Garcia. I was wrong, you were right. Aaron is much, much more upset. What the hell did you tell him?"

"That as well as I can tell without accessing their fingerprint files, Reid is in the prison system under the name of Jack Hotchner."

Morgan and J.J. shifted their eyes from Hotch to Rossi as the older profiler made what sounded very much like a growl.

"Do you have us an appointment to talk to that superintendent?"

"I do. He's expecting you within the hour."

"Then we'd better get moving."

"Alright and I'll - wait. The van is on the move again."

"You keep an eye on them, kitten - we'll deal with them after we have Reid back."


	9. Chapter 9

The team didn't waste any more time heading to the prison. As Garcia promised, the superintendent was expecting them and one of the guards was waiting by the front doors to escort them directly to his office. He rose as the four came in.

"Good morning, I'm Jake Castell, Prison Superintendent. What brings the BAU here today?"

Hotch walked over and took the offered hand, shaking it briefly.

"Superintendent Castell, I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner and these are Agents David Rossi, Jennifer Jareau and Derek Morgan. We're here regarding the kidnapping of one of my agents."

There was a surprised expression on Castell's face as he gestured toward the chairs in the room as he sat back down himself.

"Kidnapping? What would that have to do with my facility? Do you think one of the inmates here has some information on the crime?"

None of the BAU team took any of the offered seats, but remained standing as Rossi answered.

"Actually, we think our man has been put among your inmates and we'd like to get him back."

A dubious look formed on Castell's face.

"I find that hard to believe. Who do you think would have been able to do something like that?"

Hotch considered the superintendent for a minute before deciding they would be best served by laying their cards on the table.

"This isn't to leave this office, but we believe Sheriff Salters of Jackson County to be the one responsible."

The room went quiet as Superintendent Castell leaned forward. Then he let out a soft, low whistle.

"Alright. Your story just became a lot easier for me to believe. I've heard my share of complaints about Salters and then some. When one inmate spouts off that a sheriff planted evidence, I tend not to listen, but I've got over a dozen inmates that claim Salters railroaded them into jail. So, what makes you think he brought your agent here? Is it something to do with Christopher Salters' death?"

"We believe so. My team was responsible for his son being connected to a series of kidnappings and murders of young women."

"Yeah. He wasn't a bit happy about his boy being sent here. Didn't want him associating with all the killers we have here, if you can believe that hypocrisy. Since none of this is leaving this room, I suppose I can tell you that there's been some investigations started on possible perjury and evidence tampering charges against Salters. But what led you here looking for your agent?"

"We know Salters was here earlier today. It was after his arrival that you had a prisoner added to your system. Jack Hotchner."

Hotch was pulling out his wallet as he spoke and flipped it open to a picture of his son. He showed it to the Superintendent.

"Fine looking boy you have there, but what does he have to do with anything?"

"Because this is Jack Hotchner. We suspect that the young man here under that name is actually our missing agent, Doctor Spencer Reid."

"Doctor Reid? Real lanky sort of fellow - looks real young and kind of talks like a textbook?"

"You've met Reid before?"

"Years back when I still the Assistant Superintendent. I accompanied him and a fellow named Gideon back to the interrogation rooms when they were conducting interviews with some of our death row inmates."

Turning to the computer on his desk, Castell typed in an information request, but frowned as the results came back,

"That shouldn't be right."

The tone of his voice raised a red flag for the team and Morgan spoke up.

"What's not right?"

There was a worried expression on Castell's face as he looked to Morgan while tapping his screen with one finger.

"This says Hotcher is In the same cell as Ronald Thorpe. Thorpe's not supposed to have anyone else in his cell. He has a tendency toward violence against other inmates."

Castell picked up his phone and called the cell block.

"Simmons. I want Hotcher brought to my office immediately."

After he hung up the phone, Castell turned back toward the team.

"Doctor Reid has likely changed some since I met him. He was fairly young then, as I recall. Do you have his records with you? Fingerprints?"

"We can access them through our Technical Analyst back in Quantico and have them here within minutes."

The phone rang and Castell answered it.

"Superintendent Castrell. Yes? What? Just a moment."

"Agents, that was my guard in the cell block your man is in. Thorpe is refusing to let him out of the cell until he 'talks to the Feds'. "

Rossi glanced to the others of the team.

"He's asking to talk to us? Sounds like Thorpe knows something about Reid."

Hotch nodded.

"If Salters was trying to get him killed because of his connection to the Bureau, it would make sense that he'd let word drop. We're willing to talk with him if you'll allow it."

"I don't like to give in to inmate demands. It sets a bad precedent."

A slight smirk formed on Rossi's face.

"Between you and me, I would hope this is a one of a kind situation."

"Fine then. Thorpe's not threatened violence yet, so let's do this. I'd prefer Agent Jareau remain behind though. A woman in that cell block is asking for trouble."

"Agreed. Mind if she sets up our laptop and contacts our Technical Analyst?"

"Be my guest."

"J.J., get in touch with Garcia and have her stay on the line."

"Right, Hotch."

"Morgan, Rossi – come with me and let's see what Mister Thorpe wants to talk to us about."


	10. Chapter 10

As Castell and the three BAU agents approached the cell block, they found Simmons waiting on them. Castell went straight to him.

"Situation?"

The guard cast a wary eye toward the three agents before speaking.

"Thorpe has the new guy, Hotchner, with his hands tied behind him and he's holding him by the neck. Weird part is, they both seem perfectly calm. I mean, Hotcher's not half the size of Thorpe, but he's not panicked like I would've expected."

Castell cast a glance over to the BAU team, who collectively shrugged as Morgan spoke for them.

"Reid's been through more than his share of tight situations."

Hotch didn't mention it, but something that Reid had said after another situation at a prison came back to him - 'I find I do some of my best work under intense terror'. He had seen Reed keep his mental equilibrium under some extreme circumstances, so whether he was actually calm or just faking it well might be a matter of opinion. Either way, Castell accepted what Morgan said and nodded to Castell.

"Unlock the gate and let us in, then take us to Thorpe's cell."

Simmons relocked after they were inside the cell block and then led the way. Morgan seethed at his first sight of Reid's condition. He was obviously worse for wear and while he did appear calm as Simmons had said, he also looked like Thorpe holding him was the only thing keeping him on his feet. Morgan also noticed the faint smile that formed and the way Reid's eyes brightened some when he saw them. Then Morgan took a good look at the man behind Reid.

Ronald Thorpe wasn't just a big man – he was huge. Morgan estimated that the man was nearly a foot taller than Reid, making him close to seven foot tall and he had to have been at least three hundred pounds. He reminded Morgan somewhat of the wrestler Kane. Only not as pleasant looking. Thorpe didn't move anything but his eyes as he studied the group of men before finally speaking.

"I want to talk to one of you and only one of you."

Thorpe's eyes considered them again and he pointed to Rossi with his free hand.

"You. If you're willing to come in here and talk, maybe we can work something out."

Rossi glanced to Hotch and nodded to show his willingness to enter the cell. Castell seemed less than happy about it, but just motioned to Simmons to unlock the door to allow Rossi to enter.

As Thorpe pulled Reid a bit further back as Rossi came in, the pained look on Reid's face was evident and Rossi didn't bother to hide the rush of anger that appeared on his face. Thorpe just narrowed his glance as the older profiler.

"Yeah, he ain't in the best of shape, but that wasn't my doing. Now, pretty boy here and I have been talking and I want to make sure that he hasn't been feeding me a line. I don't like being lied to. So, what do the Feds want with Hotchner here?"

Thoughts flashed through Rossi's brain, but he quickly decided that the actual truth was really his only option. There was no way to guess at anything else Reid might have said and Reid knew that.

"His name isn't Jack Hotchner. His name is Spencer Reid. He's part of our team at the BAU."

"Where's the old guy that was here with him last time?"

"Gideon is no longer with our team. You were one of the ones interviewed by him?"

"Naw. My cellmate back then was one of them though. So –Salters. What are your plans for him?"

"Personally or professionally? And why do you care either way?"

That got a laugh out of Thorpe.

"From your tone, I think you'd treat him personally same as I would if I could get him alone for five minutes."

That said, Thorpe pushed Reid forward slightly, leaning forward toward Rossi and speaking softly enough that the ones outside the cell wouldn't hear him.

"You think your boy here is the first one Salters has set up? Kid needs medical attention, most likely. Salters has never brought anyone in here that didn't. If you're willing to keep talking with me after he's out, he can go with the rest of your team. Don't leave him alone with Simmons though. He's tight with Salters."

"Let's get Reid out of here, then I'll try to warn Hotch."

Looking directly into the man's eyes, Rossi gave a slow nod, then turned to speak to Hotch.

"Aaron? Reid needs to see a doctor. I've agree to take his place for now so that Derek can get him some help."

Just from the way Rossi was phrasing everything, Hotch knew that there was more to the story and that it was something that needed to be kept from either the Superintendent or the guard – if not both.

"Alright. Derek and J.J. can take him to the local hospital. Send him out."

Thorpe released his hold on Reid and Rossi found he had to help steady the younger agent as he turned Reid around enough to untie the strip of cloth that had loosely tied his wrists.

"Can you make it out on your own, Spencer?"

A small smile formed on Reid's face at the concern the use of his first name relayed.

"I'm not up to a marathon, but I can make it that far on my own. Thanks."

Simmons reopened the door and Reid walked out, slowly and stiffly, but under his own power. Morgan took hold of his arm to help steady him once Reid was clear. Simmons hesitated for a moment, then relocked the door at Castell's order.

"I'll stay here with these two agents, Simmons. You escort Agents Morgan and Reid out of the cell block, then return here immediately."

Rossi waited until Simmons was farther away, then moved closer to the bars to speak with Hotch.

"Keep a close eye and ear on Simmons, Aaron. Thorpe claims he's close to Salters. We don't want word getting out to him before we're ready to make our move."

Once out of the cell block, Morgan led Reid to the Superintendent's office where J.J. gave Reid a greeting subdued by his warning that he probably had a least one or more cracked ribs. After a quick discussion, they decided Morgan would be the one to take Reid to the hospital while J.J. stayed and kept the link to Garcia up.

"Let's get you out to the SUV, buddy. I grabbed your go bag from under your desk when we headed out. Good thing too. Not only doesn't that haircut suit you, but orange is not your color."


	11. Chapter 11

Simmons stayed by the entrance to the cell block until Reid and Morgan were out of his sight, then he ducked to the side and pulled out his phone. Technically, he wasn't supposed to have a cell phone on him while he was on duty, but it was hardly the first prison rule that he ignored. Hastily bringing up his list of numbers, he selected one and put the call through, waiting impatiently for it to be picked up.

"Jeff? This is Earl. Just listen, I don't have time. The Hotchner fellow you brought in has been taken out here by the FBI. Most of them are still here, but the black agent they called Derek was supposed to meet another agent named J.J. and take him to a doctor. Pretty sure they're headed for St. Anthony's. Gotta go. I was told to come straight back. My wife'll skin me if her older brother gets in hot water, so you be careful."

Closing his cell phone, Salters frowned. If that was the same agent that was with the team last time, he'd know Salters by sight. Seemed like it was time to call in another favor or two.

"Kemp? Pull over to that diner. We may as well get something to eat while I make a few calls.

* * *

Back in Thorpe's cell, Rossi sat on one end of a bunk while Thorpe sat on the other.

"You wanted to talk? Let's talk. Start with the hostage situation bit."

Thorpe just shrugged.

"Seemed the easiest way to figure if the kid was giving me the straight story. Besides, I wasn't going to let the kid be alone with Simmons."

"What is it about Simmons? Why do you think he's Salters' man?"

"When they brought your guy out to the yard, Salters had a word with Simmons. Nobody else, just him. It spread real fast after that about him having a law connection. Hearing that made it click for me where I'd seen him. He and the old guy were walked through our cell block on the way to the room they held the interviews in."

"Which leads to my next question – what's your connection with Salters?"

"Like I said, the kid is hardly the first here because of Salters. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the choir boy I used to be, but I'm in here because Salters lied on the stand."

"And why would he have done something like that?"

"According to the kid, your team is the one that took down Salters' brat. I was handy to blame for some frat boy that Chris beat into a coma. Mix in a couple of locals that were also willing to testify against me to keep on Salters' good side and I was railroaded. He did it like a pro to, so I doubt I was the first guy he ever stuck it to."

Rossi nodded, thinking back to the sealed records that had been erased. Those would have been from when Chris Salters had been a juvenile. If Thorpe was right, Salters had come up with an entirely different way of keeping his son's record clean once he was legally an adult.

"Did you have any evidence at your trial?"

"I have an alibi, but since Salters **is** my alibi, I think you can see where I was screwed."

"How on earth did you end up with him as your alibi?"

"I won an overnight stay to sleep off a drunk that night. I was in a cell from around midnight until nine in the morning. Guy that was beat was taken to the Emergency room at six in the morning. Fight happened about an hour before that."

"Didn't any of the rest of the officers see you?"

"Sure, but you really think any of them are going to contradict the sheriff? He can screw their records to where they'd never get a job even sweeping floors at another sheriff's department."

Mulling that over, Rossi pulled out his phone and gave a quick call to Garcia.

"Rossi? Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine, but I need you to work your magic."

"I will do my humble best. What direction do you need me to point my wand?"

"Look up the records for a Ronald Thorpe, currently incarcerated here for - what were convicted of?"

"Attempted murder."

"For attempted murder. He says that at the time of that crime, he was already in custody under Sheriff Salters."

"This will take a bit of digging, but I will make it my top priority. By the way, said sheriff has been parked for awhile not far out of town. Probably a meal break."

"Thanks, Garcia. Call me if you find anything."

Thorpe gave him a bemused look as Rossi tucked his phone back away.

"You really think she can find anything to back me up?"

"I put very little past her capabilities."

* * *

At the hospital, Morgan was waiting with Reid for the doctor to arrive. Reid had already had a set of x-rays taken for they had been sent into the room to wait. Reid was tired and was drifting in and out a bit when Morgan's voice brought him back to the present.

"Reid? Can I take a look at your ribs?"

A smile formed on Reid's face.

"Going for a medical degree, Derek?"

"No - and don't give up your day job to be a comedian. I just wanted to see how bad it is."

"If you really want to look, you can. As a warning, they're colorful, but not very attractive."

Moving closer and being careful of the IV in Reid's arm, Morgan moved the hospital gown enough to get a look, wincing in sympathy. There had been enough time for the bruises to bloom and Reid was right about them being colorful.

"You're right. They aren't very attractive. Did you manage to give him any in return?"

"Afraid not. I was already handcuffed at the time, so my options were fairly limited."

"Should've known he was a coward. Most bullies are."

There was a light rapping on the door just before it opened and one of the hospital orderlies poked his head into the room.

"Excuse me, Spencer Reid?"

"Yes?"

The young man backed into the room, pulling a wheelchair.

"The doctor wants to have a few x-rays taken of your skull, sir."

"Really? Why?"

"Just a precaution. They do that a lot with assault cases."

Morgan moved to assist Reid into the chair.

"It's probably not a bad idea, Reid. As bad as your ribs had to have been hurting, you probably wouldn't have noticed if you'd hit your head against anything."

The orderly moved the IV bag to a pole that was attached to the wheelchair.

"If you just want to keep waiting in here, Mister Reid will probably be back in about thirty minutes, sir."

"I'll do that. Thanks."

Settling back down in the chair, Morgan watched as Reid was wheeled out and sighed. Hospitals were never good places to spend time.


	12. Chapter 12

Rossi felt his phone start to vibrate and he pulled it back out, a faint smile forming as he noted who the call was from and answered.

"Are you the bearer of good news?"

Garcia's voice practically purred back over the connection.

"Would I let you down, Rossi? I hit the jackpot. Sheriff Salters' folks are tech-savvy enough to have digitized their security footage, but not tech-savvy enough to have strong enough security to keep yours truly from plundering their depths."

"Does anyone have security that good?"

"Flattery will get you much in life. In this case, it is getting you dated and time-stamped footage showing that your Mister Thorpe was both incarcerated and sawing logs during the period of time that he was supposedly out committing attempted murder."

A slightly feral grin formed on Rossi's face.

"We need warrants for those computer files. We don't need someone erasing them."

"I will have - oh no."

"Garcia? What's wrong?"

"I just looked back at the GPS for the van that Sheriff Salters and his man are in. While I was running down the other information, they left the location they were at, but they aren't still heading south. They're headed back your direction . . . correction. Not quite. They've stopped again, but they appear to have gone to a hospital. St. Anthony."

"Damn. Hotch had Reid taken to a local hospital. Call Morgan and give him the warning - I'm going to get Hotch."

Looking over to Thorpe, Rossi explained quickly.

"I've got to go. I think Salters might be coming back for Reid. But Garcia's found evidence that should get you a retrial at the very least."

The big man gave a slow nod.

"Go take care of your man, but I want out of here in time to sit in on Salters' trial."

"I'll do all I can. I'll even see if we can get you a front row seat. Aaron - we have an emergency."

"What is it, Dave?"

"Salters. It looks like he's after Reid again. Garcia just put his van at St. Anthony's Hospital"

Rossi's eyes went straight to Simmons and became hard as marbles.

"Considering how very few folks know that Reid was taken to the hospital, makes you wonder how he found out so quickly, doesn't it?"

Simmons was already sweating under Rossi's stare. Once Hotch's stare was fixed on him as well, they could practically watch as the guard came unglued. Hotch took a step closer to the man, speaking in a low, firm tone.

"Do you know how very close you are right now to being charged as being an accessory to both kidnapping and attempted murder?"

That was all the push that it took for Simmons to crack like an egg.

"Now wait a minute - I didn't do anything but talk to Jeff and -"

Rossi smoothly stepped in on that.

"Jeff? On a first name basis with Sheriff Salters, are we? What's your relation to him? You may as well tell us because you know we'll find out once we start looking."

Simmons quickly looked to Castell - who looked entirely unsympathetic. Swallowing, he muttered too low to be heard. Castell practically growled at him - he didn't appreciate his prison being made to look bad in front of the FBI agents.

"Speak up, Simmons."

"He's my brother-in-law, sir."

"That's not in your employment jacket, Simmons."

"I wasn't married to her when I was hired."

Hotch broke in then.

"We're getting off-track here. You called Salters and told him where my agents were going, didn't you?"

"Yes, but -"

Hotch didn't let him get any further.

"Superintendent, if you would find a place where this man can be held for now. Charges will be filed, but right now, we have more important things to attend to."

Rossi chimed in after that.

"We consider Thorpe to be your personal responsibility as well. We have proof that he's in here under false charges. If anything happens to him, there will be a very lengthy investigation."

The way things were looking, there was apt to be an investigation regardless, but Castell nodded as he escorted them out of the cell block. He had no great love for the sheriff who was making all of them look bad.

"Simmons will be here when you come back. So will Thorpe."

* * *

Reid was passively glancing around while being pushed in the wheelchair until they entered an elevator. Glancing to the side out of idle curiosity to look at the floor buttons, Reid caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye that broke him out of his thoughts. The orderly had just pushed a hypodermic needle into his IV tube and injected something.

Reid's reaction was automatic - he reached to jerk the tube free of his arm. He succeeded but that action quickly led to a fight with the orderly. Even with Reid having the disadvantage of damaged ribs and being smaller than the orderly, the orderly was more fat than fit and simply wasn't a match for Reid. Just as the orderly hit the elevator floor, the elevator doors opened and looking out, Reid cursed. Salters and Kemp were walking toward the elevator, but they were obviously not expecting to see Reid as being the one still standing.

Taking advantage of their moment of distraction, Reid hit the button to close the door and immediately hit another button to start the elevator moving again. Salters lunged forward, but was too late to stop the door from shutting. Reid could hear him shouting something at Kemp, but he didn't have time to worry about that. Reid wasn't going to go anywhere with Salters if he could prevent it. Not knowing that the other man wasn't going to be happy until he was dead.

Taking stock of what little he had to work with, Reid hit a series of buttons so that the elevator would keep stopping along the way. He stayed on for two floors, then ducked out on the third stop, keeping his right hand clamped to where he'd pulled the IV line out of his left arm. He knew he looked suspicious in nothing but his underwear and the hospital gown, but first things first. He had to find a way to get help without running into Salters or any of his allies. Trouble was, there was no way for Reid to tell who might be one of Salters' allies.

There was only one thing to do - he needed to find a way to get back to Morgan or to at least contact his friend before Salters caught up to him.

* * *

In the hospital room, Morgan looked up as the doctor came in, carrying Reid's chart. The doctor gave a glance toward the empty bed.

"Is Doctor Reid in the bathroom? I need to go over the results with him."

Morgan shook his head,

"They haven't brought him back from taking the x-rays of his skull yet."

Alarms bells went off in Morgan's head at the confused look on the doctor's face. His phone went off before he could question it.

"Be right back with you, Doctor. Morgan here. What's up, Baby Girl?"

Garcia's tone was urgent.

"Tell me that you're still with Reid. You didn't leave him at the hospital, did you?"

"I'm at the hospital, but he's - wait. Tell me what's wrong."

"Salters. He and his deputy turned back around and they're at the hospital that you and Reid are at."

Morgan snapped his head to look at the doctor.

"You didn't order another set of x-rays, did you?"

"No, I didn't, Agent Morgan."

"Oh hell no - Garcia!"

"Here, Derek - I think I know what you're about to ask and no - the vehicle is still at a dead stop."

"Get hold of the team. That lowlife might have Reid again, but he's not going to leave here with him if I can help it."


	13. Chapter 13

Hotch had J.J. get on her phone to start coordinating with the LaPorte County Sheriff's Office as they drove to the hospital. The local authorities needed to know that Sheriff Salters and Deputy Kemp had gone rogue and should be considered armed and dangerous. Arrangements were made for some of the officers to meet with the three of them at the hospital. They needed to find and immobilize the van to cut off one means of them leaving the area quickly.

As they pulled up to the hospital entrance, they split up. J.J. went to meet the LEOs and bring them up to speed on who and what to look for as quickly as possible. Hotch went to meet with the hospital administrator and Rossi headed for the elevators to team up with Morgan.

Back at the BAU offices, Garcia's fingers were flying on her keyboard as she found St. Anthony's Hospital and began electronically dancing her way into their computers, looking for and finally locating the section dedicated to security. There were so many cameras that she needed to find a way to start narrowing things down. She began taking a floor at a time, flipping quickly from camera to camera and looking for something to catch her eye.

Hotch was in the process of explaining about the danger that the sheriff was posing to the hospital when his phone rang. Seeing it was from J.J., he excused himself for a moment to speak with her.

"Hotch? We found their van. The officers with me are in the process of attaching clamps to the tires. Salters won't be taking it anywhere."

"Good. Ask if some of them would stay by the van to arrest Salters and Kemp if either of them come back to it and then join me at the Administrator's office."

"Right, Hotch."

* * *

Morgan was waiting by the elevators for Rossi and was more than a little surprised when an elevator opened. Inside was the wheelchair that Reid had been in and the orderly was laying on the floor. Reaching in quickly, Morgan pulled the emergency stop and called down the hall for assistance.

Looking closer at everything, Morgan was glad that he'd called for assistance because it kept him from throttling the orderly when his eyes spotted the syringe with its needle still inserted into the IV's tube. As the doctor and a couple of nurses arrived, Morgan pointed that out to them.

"What the hell was an orderly doing injecting stuff into Reid's IV? What did that maniac put into him?"

The smaller of the nurses worked her way past the wheelchair, then pushed it out of the open door and into the hall to get it out of her way as she made a quick search of the orderly's pockets and pulled out a small bottle. By her gasp, Morgan knew it was bad.

"What is it?"

"Sublimaze - they use it in surgery. It's around a hundred times more potent than Morphine."

The doctor noted the sudden look of panic that crossed Morgan's face.

"Your friend isn't allergic to opiates, is he?"

Thinking fast, Morgan shook his head.

"I don't know about allergies, but he's had a bad reaction to them in the past and I know from being at hospitals with him before that his medical records say to avoid them."

The doctor nodded to that, looking to the end of the IV where it had been pulled free.

"If Doctor Reid pulled it out quickly enough, he may not have gotten much or even any into his system.

Those words were just out of the doctor's mouth when Rossi came out of one of the other elevators.

"What's going on here?"

Scowling down at the slowly recovering orderly, Morgan growled out.

"Guy must be with Salters. He tried to shoot Reid up on narcotics, but looks like Reid got away from him."

The doctor looked back at both of them.

"We need to find Doctor Reid as soon as possible. He has a broken rib that needs to be stabilized before he ends up with a punctured lung or internal bleeding."

Rossi glared down at the orderly as he pulled his phone out.

"Yeah, he's also got two armed and dangerous guys looking to make a punctured lung be the least of his problems. Come on, Derek. We need to find Reid before they do."

Calling J.J., Rossi spoke as he hit the elevator button.

"This is Rossi. We have a man on the fifth floor that needs to be arrested. Charges? I'm sure there will be others, but assault of a Federal agent and misuse of a controlled substance should do for a start. Morgan and I are going down to the fourth floor to look for Reid. The doctor says he needs treatment sooner than later."

* * *

The adrenaline rush that had gotten Reid's moving in the elevator was running out on him and the pain blooming in his side was making breathing difficult. Fifth floor. He'd been on the fifth floor so that was where he'd find Morgan. Going back to take the elevator was tempting but too much chance that he'd run into Salters or Kemp that way. Reid spotted a sign for stairs and hurried over to it, not sure if he was fortunate or not that there was no-one in this section of hallway at the moment. He could hear voices around the corner, but those could easily be foe instead of friend. The attack by the orderly had made him paranoid.

As the door shut behind him and closed him into the stairwell, Reid blinked back tears that had formed as the pain in his side got sharper. All of this movement wasn't doing his injuries any good. With that thought, he turned his gaze upward and looked at the stairs that he needed to climb. The elevator had been at a basement level when he'd fought with the orderly. He'd gotten off on the third floor - that mean he had to make it up two flights of stairs. Well, the number of stairs wasn't going to get any lower from staring at them.

Taking hold of the railing, Reid frowned at his blood stained hand as he put his foot onto the first stair. At least the IV site wasn't bleeding any more. He had a irrational desire to go find a bathroom so that he could wash the blood off, but forced his mind back to the task at hand. In the back of his mind, he knew that his feelings of disorientation and becoming distracted were not good, so he tried to narrow his focus to one thing. Climbing the stairs to get to Derek. Derek would get him the help that he needed. Slow and easy - one stair at a time. The last thing he needed was to slip and fall on the stairs.

* * *

Back on the third floor, Salters and Kemp split up after assuring that the floor nurses hadn't seen the 'psychiatric patient' that they were trying to locate before he hurt himself. Kemp was just as glad to be away from Salters for awhile. The longer it was taking them to find this Reid guy, the more irrational the sheriff was acting. The sooner that they dealt with the situation and headed back home, the better. Logically, he knew that this whole fiasco wasn't just going to go away, but if he had to pick between dealing with a trial in his future and dealing with an angry sheriff? Well, the sheriff scared him a hell of a lot more than the Feds did.


	14. Chapter 14

Garcia squealed to herself and hit the touch screen on her phone to connect her with Morgan.

"Derek! I've got eyes on Kemp. He's on the third floor of the hospital, west wing. Salters isn't with him though."

"Great work, Baby Girl. Any sign of our boy?"

"None, but I've got lots of cameras to go through and he has to be in range of the shot, my Adonis. Never fear, I am not giving up until we find him."

Tucking his phone back away, Morgan looked over to Rossi as he pushed the button for the third floor.

"Kemp is on the third floor. Salters isn't with him."

"I'll go ahead and get off on the fourth floor, you go on down to the third. Get us both some help up here for searching from the LEOs."

Morgan was already contacting J.J. as Rossi stepped off the elevator. His head was running over scenarios. Reid was hurt and he wasn't exactly dressed to blend in with people there to visit other patients. The sign for the stairwell along with the sign instructing to use the stairs in case of fire caught his eye. If nothing else, it should be quick to eliminate.

As Rossi opened the door, he heard a shout. Salters' voice. He quickly eased the door shut again and called Hotch directly.

"Aaron - I can hear Salters below me in the stairwell. I'm on the fourth floor. He's yelling at someone and odds are that it's Reid."

"I"m heading for the stair entrance on this level. Try to get in with as little noise as possible - I want to end this."

"I think that's all of us. See you on the stairs."

Rossi eased back through the door. There was a small noise despite his best efforts, but Salters and Reid were yelling back and forth, so he hoped that meant that no-one had heard it.

Reid had made it up to the first landing between the third and fourth floors when the door leading into the stairwell on the third floor opened. He had hopes it might be one of the team, but it was the person he wanted to see the least - Salters. Salters saw him as well.

"You stubborn little bastard! Stay right where you are. You're just making this harder on yourself."

Holding his side in an attempt to ease the pain, Reid just looked at the man incredulously.

"Harder on myself? **Harder** on myself? You're trying to kill me! You think I'm going to make that easy for you?"

"Watch that tone, boy!"

Getting a good breath hurt, but at the moment, Reid really didn't care. He was angry and knew there was no point in trying to outrun the man. He might go down, but he wasn't going to go quietly.

"Or what? You're going to get mad at me? At least then you'd actually have a reason for all this. A stupid reason, but that's more reason than you have now. I didn't make your son into a murderer. And you may have been a crappy father, but you didn't force him to kill anyone either. I had a crappy father myself - having a crappy childhood doesn't give anyone the right to do what he did."

"My boy just had a little wild streak! He'd have outgrown it!"

"If I have to die because of him, at least face the facts. Christopher was a kidnapper, a rapist and a murderer."

Salters drew his gun as he glared up at Reid.

"Shut up! He wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for you people! What difference did a few floozies make?"

"It didn't matter if they were exotic dancers or nuns - their deaths made a huge difference to their families."

Rossi finally got far enough down the stairs to be able to get an angle on Salters.

"FBI! Throw down your weapon!"

Salters' gun immediately shifted to aim at Rossi.

"You son of a -"

The gunshot rang through the stairwell, half-deafening Reid, who looked immediately up to Rossi. Rossi seemed unhurt, but slightly confused. Then a voice rang out from below them.

"It's over, Salters. Keep your hands where I can see them. J.J. - have the officers move in. Third floor stairwell entrance."

Rossi maintained his position until the LEOs came in and secured Salters' gun before cuffing the cursing man. Now that they could see him better, they could see that Salters' right arm was bleeding from the shot Hotch had taken. Rossi didn't care about that though. He reholstered his weapons and went to Reid's side.

"You okay there?"

Reid managed a smile at the older profiler.

"Physically, I've been better. Mentally? Relieved. It's really good to see you guys."

"Good to see you too, kid. You've got a doctor waiting on you. Let's get you back to your room. Morgan should have Kemp corralled by now."

"He's got other people here at the hospital, Rossi."

"You mean that orderly? We found him and he's already under arrest. Just in case there are more folks that want to share jail time with Salters though? You aren't going to be out of our sight until we're back on the plane, so I hope you aren't feeling bashful."

A smirk formed on Reid's face.

"Considering what I'm currently wearing, bashfulness isn't a problem. I just request that you make sure someone other than J.J. has bathroom duty."

"I think we can arrange that. Hang on. I'm going to have someone meet us at the fourth floor door with a wheelchair. Handcuffed or not, I'm not taking you down past Salters."

After making the call, it took a moment or two for Rossi to figure out how to support Reid without hurting him worse, but then they continued up the stairs to the fourth floor. They could still hear Hotch giving orders, then they heard footsteps hurrying up the stairs. Rossi paused to look back and was relieved that it was Derek. Fortunately the stairs were wide enough for three across as Derek moved to the other side of Reid to help support him. Reid didn't argue. At this point, he was having a difficult time putting one foot in front of the other and the waiting wheelchair was a welcomed sight. The doctor was waiting with the chair and one look at Reid's coloration had him snapping orders to the nearby nursing staff to rush the patient for a new set of chest x-rays. He understood completely after what had happened that there was going to be an agent on the door to any room Reid was in.

By the time Salters, Kemp and the orderly had been taken away by the LEOs, Reid had been rushed into emergency surgery. Rossi and Morgan were already in the waiting area when J.J. and Hotch joined them. Garcia had found a security camera that covered the hallway leading to the surgical suite, so she was keeping an eye on everything from her station at Quantico.

Hotch went straight over to Rossi as J.J. looked over the other two men and went to find coffee for them all.

"How is he, Dave?"

"Doctor says that one of the broken ribs has caused some bleeding, but he sounded pretty confident that he was going to be able to take care of it and stabilize the rib. He wants Reid to stay under observation for forty-eight hours, especially since he'll be leaving here by plane. But, barring complications, he doesn't see why we can't leave after that point so long as we make sure Reid doesn't overdo it."

Rossi lowered his voice then.

"The doctor is under the impression that Reid's allergic to opiates and I didn't see any reason to correct him."

Hotch nodded.

"I think that's for the best. By the way, it looks like most of us will end up having to come back here for the trial."

"That reminds me. We should use Reid's hospital time to see about getting Thorpe cleared. There's no telling who else might be in that prison because of Salters."

"I'm sure that the appeal courts here are going to be busy for quite awhile once the word gets out. Every trial he's testified at is suspect now that we know that he's willing to lie under oath."

J.J. returned with a plate of pastries and coffee, settling down into a chair with the rest as they waited for word on their coworker and friend.


	15. Chapter 15

It seemed longer, but it was only about an hour before the doctor came to see the team in the waiting area. There were more faces that he didn't know than those that he did, so he started off by introducing himself.

"I'm Doctor Burke - I was the one that performed surgery on Doctor Reid. Are all of you with him?"

Since Morgan was the one the doctor knew, he was the one that nodded and did their end of the introductions.

"Yes, this is our boss, Aaron Hotchner and Agents David Rossi and Jennifer Jareau. How's Reid?"

"Doctor Reid is in recovery. Everything went well and we were able to stop the bleeding without any difficulties. We realigned and secured the broken rib. There is a considerable amount of soft tissue damage that concerns us, bruised kidneys in particular from where it appears he was kicked in his lower back. There is currently blood showing in his urine - not enough to set off any alarms, but enough that we want to keep an eye on it at least overnight. I understand you intend to be flying out of the area?"

Hotch answered for the group.

"Yes. We'll all be traveling back together."

"I'm hesitant on agreeing to that. Being cramped up in an airline seat is not going to be comfortable for him and might aggravate some of his injuries."

"We have a jet. He won't be flying coach. We even have a area where he can lay after takeoff."

The doctor only had to take a brief look at Hotch before deciding that he didn't appear to be the type to joke about things like that.

"Alright then. In that case, if we don't see any complications in forty-eight hours, I'll clear him to fly. Is there a doctor or hospital that you would prefer his records be sent to?"

J.J. took over with giving him the details needed for the record transfer, then looked back to the doctor.

"When can we see him?"

Taking a glance at his watch, Doctor Burke spoke again.

"He should be ready to be taken to his room in half an hour. I understand that due to the circumstances regarding the orderly that someone is going to be with him in his room?"

All four agents nodded in firm agreement and the doctor jotted down a note onto pad.

"I'll send a nurse in when we're ready then so that someone can be with him during the move."

"Thank you, Doctor Burke. We'd appreciate that."

Shaking his head, Burke sighed.

"Much as I would like to say that it's an unneccessary precaution, I can't say that I'd be any less concerned myself under the circumstances after what your man has been put through."

All of them stayed until Reid was actually settled and they could see him briefly. Reid blushed slightly as J.J. ran her hand over his too short hair.

"You are planning on letting this grow back out, aren't you, Spence?"

"Definitely. I don't see this as a good look for me. Fortunately, my hair seems to grow fairly quickly."

The time remaining in Indiana passed very quickly as the team (aided by Reid after Doctor Burke agreed that working with a laptop was fine so long as he didn't neglect to eat and sleep as directed) dedicated themselves to gathering the evidence that supported Thorpe's innocence as well as contacting the legal representatives for the other prisoners that had Salters testifying at their trials. Some of them were probably still guilty, but if there wasn't enough evidence for retrial without Sheriff Salters testimony, there probably hadn't been a good case against them to begin with.

The case against Salters and Kemp was a Federal one. Not only had they kidnapped, assaulted and illegally incarcerated a Federal agent, but they had crossed state lines to do it. The full implications of what he'd been involved in hadn't sunk in to Kemp until he heard the charges. When it did hit him, he broke down and confessed everything.

As they read over the written confession, Hotch's face grew grimmer. As Reid had already suspected, Salters had thought that Hotch's son was far older than he was and the target had switched from Jack to Reid after the truth was discovered. Hotch had thought the use of Jack's name was just a dig at him - he had never suspected that his son was the intended victim. He felt both relieved and guilty that it had been Reid instead. Even more so after Reid said that he was glad Jack was safe and hadn't had to go through any of the experience.

It was a tired, but satisfied team that headed for the airport. They found that Thorpe was waiting there for them.

"All the stink that got caused when the media heard about the stuff Salters had been pulling? Governor got involved and issued me an immediate pardon based on that surveillance video your lady tech found. No telling how long I might have rotted in that cell if you guys hadn't been dragged into this."

Reid smiled up at the large man. Due to Doctor Burke's insistence that he not be on his feet for more than a few minutes at a time, Reid was being pushed around in a wheelchair by Morgan.

"I would say it was my pleasure to be of help, but to be perfectly honest, this was a trip I could have done without."

Thorpe laughed loudly as he gave Reid a surprisingly gentle pat on his shoulder.

"I bet. Any of you ever need anything, look me up. I'm in your debt and Ronald Thorpe's not a man to forget his debts."

Rossi handed Thorpe one of the BAU's cards before they headed for the jet. Morgan took Reid directly to the couch and the slender agent settled down on it before giving it a pat. He saw the others look at him and looked a little embarrassed.

"I dreamed about this enough that I'm halfway afraid I'll wake up and be back in the cell."

"Perfectly understandable, kid. Want us to prop you up enough for a game of cards?"

"Thanks, Rossi. That would be great."

"Hey, you know that knot you left us? Talk about going the entirely wrong direction when we were going by the corned beef name."

Laughter broke out among the men and J.J. watched as the guys basically fussed over Reid. As good as it felt to get Spence back, something deep within her was warmed even more by what they had been able to do for Thorpe and possibly others like him. That feeling - getting justice for those it had been denied to? That was why she was with the BAU and why it had always been and would always be more than just a job.

 _"Every time we turn your heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong,_  
 _when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out,_  
 _we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice."_ ~ Robert Kennedy


End file.
